Israel is weighing up its response to Iran's unprecedented missile and drone assault on its territory, signalling last night that it would not immediately act alone, but insisting its leadership had approved both "offensive and defensive action".
Washington said it would not take part in any Israeli counter-offensive against Tehran, whose large-scale attack on Saturday night involved about 300 missiles and drones, almost all of which were intercepted before they could land in Israel.
Two members of Israel's three-man war cabinet made statements suggesting they were taking a longer-term view of the response to Iran's first-ever direct attack on Israeli soil.
But the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, had not declared a formal decision by late yesterday.
US officials said the salvo, which included more than 100 ballistic missiles, could have been catastrophically destructive had they not been intercepted, and would have made a regional war much more likely.
The Israeli defence minister, Yoav Gallant, said the successful interception against the attack by the country's air force and several allies was an opportunity for a new "strategic alliance" against Iran.
Gallant's remarks followed a statement from Benny Gantz, a member of Israel's wartime unity government, who said: "[Israel] will build a regional coalition and exact the price from Iran in the fashion and timing that is right for us."
However, R Adm Daniel Hagari, the chief military spokesperson, added later yesterday: "Over the last few hours we approved operational plans for both offensive and defensive action."
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة April 15, 2024 من The Guardian.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة April 15, 2024 من The Guardian.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Soldier pleads guilty to prison escape midway through trial
The former British soldier Daniel Khalife has changed his plea to guilty of trying to escape from Wandsworth prison, part way through his trial.
Mental exhaustion can deplete impulse control, study suggests
If a hard day in the office leaves you crabby and uncooperative, you might have an excuse: scientists say exercising self-restraint can exhaust parts of the brain related to impulse control.
Drug to help smokers quit 'could save 9,500 lives in next five years'
Hundreds of thousands of smokers will be given a pill proven to boost people's chances of quitting in a move NHS bosses believe will save thousands of lives.
'I miss him so much' The devastated mother whose son, six, was swept away by floods in Canada
During the course of Cop29, the Guardian will present stories online and in print from people on the frontline of the climate emergency. Here, Tera Sisco tells of her experience of floods in Nova Scotia, Canada, in 2023
UK's commitment Britain to announce tough climate goal
Keir Starmer will announce a stringent new climate goal for the UK today, the Guardian can reveal, with a target in line with the advice given to the government by its scientists and independent advisers.
United States EPA staff fear massive cuts under Trump
After several years of recovery following the tumult of Donald Trump's last administration, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is bracing for even deeper cuts to staff numbers and to work protecting Americans from pollution and the climate crisis as Trump prepares to return to power.
Disability charities say rise in NICs will cause 'life-changing' cuts to services
Charities have warned of \"life-changing consequences\" for 1 million vulnerable children and adults as a result of cuts to state-funded disability services driven by tax changes and wage rises announced in the budget.
Police called as Le Creuset sale dishes out traffic chaos
One hundred years after two Belgian industrialists first \"cracked the code\" to enamelling cast-iron and created the first Le Creuset cocotte, the highly covetable cookware brand continues to grace the middle-class kitchen.
Only one in 10 rape victims in England and Wales 'would report crime again'
Rape victims in England and Wales have echoed the message of Gisèle Pelicot in France that \"shame belongs to perpetrators, not them\", in the largest ever survey of rape and sexual assault survivors, according to the government's adviser on the crime.
'Where have they gone?' France grieves loss of Cadbury Fingers
A famous 1981 French advert for Cadbury Fingers showed a boy hiding a box of the biscuits behind his back while his mother demands to know if he has eaten them all. \"Non, non,\" he insists, his nose growing, Pinocchio-like, with each denial.
